There are many viable strategies at work in a standard marketing campaign, some more successful than others. Here are a few tried and tested strategies which can help you increase your targeted website traffic without fracturing your budget.
1. Build an Email List of Prospects
Request that visitors to your site leave their contact information so you can send them information and updates on a regular basis. Keep the lines of communication open by sharing useful information and posting content-rich articles in between product updates.
2. Spread the word within Social Networking Communities
Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are a great avenue for advertising to a wider audience. It's a good idea to first locate people you currently know with accounts on these sites. Then they can help you to "spread the word."
3. Networking Offline
Take the opportunity to meet like-minded people within your local community. As you meet people and identify those who might have a need for your products or services, share your website information with them. This passive marketing strategy allows you to identify prospects without a large advertising budget for an aggressive internet marketing campaign.
4. Nurture Quality Relationships with your Current Contacts
Think about the people you already know: current clients, colleagues, peers in professional networking organizations, friends, family, etc. Most of them are already very aware of your talents and skills, and would be happy to help you get started by referring business your way. You may need to educate (not sell!) them about your business and who would benefit from your products or services, but once they understand... they will be happy to provide your website information to targeted prospects.
5. Start a Local Business Consortium
Get together regularly with a group of complementary business owners and help each other by cross referring potential customers. For example, a handyman may routinely meet people in need of a good house cleaning service. Leverage your resources as a group and save a great deal of marketing dollars. Provide your group members with business cards with your website address and ask that they hand out whenever they meet someone who may be in need of your products or services.
These are just some of the cost-effective strategies you can use to begin an effective low-cost marketing campaign to get targeted traffic to your website.